Snow

The drenched blue Kougra was walking down the road to her
Neohome together with her owner. Isabella patted her poor pet who had just been
blasted by the Snowager as she watched the snowflakes fall.

"Pretty, aren't they?" the owner asked.

"No," the Kougra replied grumpily. Snowy glared
at all the snow around her. It was sticky, wet and simply annoying. She didn't
understand why Is had chosen her name. Snowy... Blargh! The little Kougra shook
her head as she entered their Neogarden. A bunch of Glass Roses shone in the
esunlight, and the snow glittered upon them. Feeling quite sore, Snowy thwacked
the roses. Unfortunately she broke her nail and the hard glass that didn't even
seem to take any damage at all.

"Nice try," Is commented sarcastically as she
put the roses back to their original place. "I don't really get it... Why do
you hate snow so much?"

The Kougra muttered something incoherent as she
searched for a good item to thwack, one that wouldn't break the nails on her
other paw.

"You're seeing red," the owner said when she
saw Snowy clench her fist. The little Kougra closed her eyes as she took a deep
breath. Don't get mad. Don't get mad. Snow is stupid. Snow is stupid...

"Here. A healing potion." Is handed something
that seemed like Essence of Everlasting Apple. The Kougra grabbed it and gulped
it down. She felt her HP going up as a warm, nice feeling whirled around in
her stomach.

"Sorry about that," Is said apologetically.

"It's okay," Snowy lied. She had learned from
Is that lies were bad, but for her, it was even worse to make Is sad. Sure,
no one enjoyed getting blasted by the Snowager, but if it made Is happy, then...

The owner hugged her pet as they reached the
door. She opened it and found a bunch of mail lying inside. Snowy quickly ran
inside and felt the warmth spread throughout her small body. She sunk down in
a nice, comfy chair and had a Cup of Tea. Ah... This was bliss.

"Sorry to crush your dream," Is said, "But, can
you get a scratchcard for me?"

"What?" the Kougra jumped up, spilling the rest
of the tea on Neopia's best newspaper, Neopian Times that was lying on the table.
She gasped. "You're kidding! I... I have to go out again?"

"Sorry," the owner apologized. "But..." She waved
with her crutches.

"Okay," Snowy said, feeling defeated. She got
up from the chair, grabbed all the necessities and the bag of neopoints at the
door.

The blue Kougra walked outside, and the storm
that had been brewing all afternoon hit her right on the nose. She shuddered,
took a last wistful look at her safe home, and started walking. Down the Neogarden,
past the annoying Glass Roses...

The coldness made Snowy think. She sighed, kind
of regretting that she had gone outside at all. But then again, Is couldn't
go and that long trip to the Snowager had exhausted her. It had only been two
weeks since her owner had slipped on the ice and broken a bone. A twinge of
guilt hit the Kougra as she remembered how she had begged her owner to accompany
her to the scary old worm even though Is was hurt.

That's why she had to do this now. To make up
for it. The Kougra grimaced at the sticky snow and kept walking. She saw some
happy pets throwing snowballs at each other.

"Come!" they shouted. "Come and play with us!
This is just the perfect snow to have a snowball fight with!"

Snowy shook her head. Ah, those naive little
pets. She looked at the white, thick snow around her with contempt. It was the
snow's fault! If that seemingly safe layer of snow hadn't been on that spot
with the slippery ice, her owner would never have gotten injured. The Kougra
spat and started to climb the mountain. The Ice Caves were not far away, but
there would still be another fifteen minutes' climbing and walking.

During the oh-so-exciting climb, the Kougra almost
lost her grip twice. Oh, how she wished that Is was here with her!

Finally she reached the top, tired but happy.
The Kougra sat on the ice and let the wind blow her off to the Kiosk. When she
was right in front of the Kiosk, Snowy jumped off the ice, landed on ice, slipped
and crashed into the stand.

"Sorry," the Kougra said as she got up. "Was
anything damaged?"

"Nothing, except for my poor paw," the Kiosk
Wocky said. The pet held up an aching paw.

"I'd like to have a scratchcard, please," Snowy
said politely and quietly, aware of all the trouble she had caused. "There
is that annoying snow again, hiding the ice and creating more problems," she
thought as the Kiosk Wocky handed a Race to Riches Scratchcard to her. Quickly
she scratched six squares, and just as she had expected, they were all empty.

"I guess I deserve it, for crashing into the
stand and then demanding a scratchcard like that," the Kougra thought as she
walked home. When she stuck her head out of the Icy Caves, the sun shone. Some
of the snow had melted, and Snowy felt a little bit happy. At least the snow
wouldn't be bothering her here!

The sleek Kougra jumped down and quickly landed
on the slushy snow. She kept walking as the prickly feeling in her fur told
her that it was getting colder. When she passed Mr. Chipper's stand, she knew
that she was halfway home.

Suddenly something bumped into her. A pair of
creamy white wings with a touch of light blue fluttered in front of her eyes
before Snowy realized who it was. All kinds of delicious candies and neggs were
lying around. Greedy pets snuck forward and grabbed some of them as the Snow
Faerie recited a spell. She waved with her hand, and the pets froze.

"Greedy little brats," Taelia muttered. Then
she realized that she had knocked down Snowy and bent down. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Snowy said as she got up. The Kougra
felt that she had to do something for Taelia since she had made her drop all
that stuff, so she bent down and helped the Snow Faerie to pick some up.

"You're a good pet," Taelia said when they were
finished. "Here. Consider this a treat." The Snow Faerie smiled as she handed
an Icy Negg to Snowy.

"Thanks," Snowy said, surprised. Taelia had already
vanished by then, and the little pet walked on home. She stopped, put the gift
into the empty bag and was just about to take a step when she noticed that her
feet refused move. She tried to move them, but they simply wouldn't budge.

A black mist of ugly feelings spread in the Kougra's
heart as it sank. This was impossible! The weather had grown threateningly cold
and now she was stuck here in this stupid snowstorm, unable to move. Snowy growled
angrily as she tried to claw her way out of the ice.

Of course she knew what had happened. When the
sun had melted the snow into slush, she had walked in it and now that it was
cold, it had frozen to ice and made her into a living statue.

It was hopeless. After a several attempts, Snowy
gave up. She looked at the sky and sighed. The storm seemed to be calming down,
but it was nevertheless windy. The Kougra cringed whenever a little snowflake
found its way to her neck, even with a thick scarf wrapped around it.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When
she opened them, it wasn't stormy anymore. The beautifully azure-colored sky
was now full of snowflakes that were peacefully floating down. Snowy looked
around. The wide field was full of snow, just as it always had been. But for
the first time she realized how beautiful all those crystalline flakes looked.
She reached out a paw and took handful of the light, powdery snow. The snowflakes
tumbled around, reflecting the light that was cast upon them. It felt so serene...
Even though she was stuck here, she didn't feel so awful or stressed anymore.

The birches had their dark branches topped with
sparkling frost that looked beautiful. She looked down at the Valley and noticed
how beautiful those snow-covered cottages looked. The Kougra sighed, feeling
somewhat content.

As the darkness grew, worry replaced the tranquil
feeling that she had experienced while frozen. Giving it one last shot, Snowy
found that she could finally move! Suddenly she realized how long she had stood
there admiring that beautiful snow and started to run. Is was probably worried,
and if she went outside... The Kougra didn't want to think about it.

With a few powerful sprints, the Kougra reached
the block that she lived in. Running down the street, Snowy recognized the lanterns
that they had placed in the NeoGarden. Those lanterns were also covered with
snow that glittered like jewels. Snowy told herself that she would have time
later, and that the safety of Is was first. She slammed the door open and ran
into the living hall.

The Kougra was brought to a sudden stop as she
saw her owner sitting there and enjoying a Snow Slushie.

"Welcome home," Is said. Her face looked worried
when she saw the Kougra. "Are you all right?"

"Yes," Snowy said dryly. Her owner was sitting
inside and enjoying herself, and here she had been worried for nothing! The
Kougra frowned as she sarcastically remarked, "And I was just about to ask you
that question..."

Is got up with the help of her crutches. She
unwrapped her pet's scarf and smiled.

"I don't suppose we won anything," she said.
Snowy shook her head, regretting her rather rash remark. She hugged her owner
gently as she opened the bag and showed Is the negg.

"Wow," Is said as she closed the door. "That
must've been quite an adventure."

"You bet it was!" the Kougra exclaimed. "But
the most amazing thing of all... The snow..." she whispered as she felt the
last snowflake melt in her paw. "It was so beautiful..."

"So you're finally understanding why I'm so obsessed
with it?" Is asked, trying to suppress laugher. She had known that her pet really
disliked snow, but this change of heart... It was quite odd.

"No," Snowy said bluntly. "Just because it's
beautiful doesn't mean it's good. Sure, no one can resist it when it glitters
like that... But I still don't like it." She blew a raspberry at the thick blanket
of white snow outside. "It's sticky, annoying, hard to walk in and..."

"Okay, okay!" the owner said as she placed an
arm around the Kougra's shoulder. "Calm down! Now, tell me all about your adventures
and how you got that negg..."

"You see, it was because of that stupid, stupid
snow..." Snowy began.

The End

Search the Neopian Times

Great stories!

---------

EndingArrow: Part ElevenI started to hear sounds again: of seconds and
milliseconds bending back on themselves, struggling to unravel the threads they'd
already forged...